FAQs
Dr. Michael Purcell, DO
Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
Board-certified physician and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
FAQs about PIOC
Why should you join Purcell Integrative Osteopathic Clinic
1. Health Freedom
2. Holistic 1st approach to care
3. Similar to a Health Share
Your membership supports the practice and allows better care for all members.
Dr. Purcell will support your health choices!
What are the Costs?
Current memberships are starting at $85/person, with reduction in price per person as families become larger in size. Current pricing does not guarantee future pricing. The goal here is to serve patients and families to the best of our ability, to build a strong and stable medical community, and with this in mind membership prices agreed upon when joining will continue to be honored for the duration of your continued relationship with the practice.
Do I still need health insurance?
Save insurance for the “BIG stuff” ! You do not need insurance for DPC. It is generally a good idea to have some insurance for unexpected and costly medical occurrences (accidents, need for surgery or other specialty care). The DPC philosophy is that you should not need insurance to see your primary physician.
Dr. Purcell does encourage you to have something however to back up your membership. DPC is NOT insurance. The best option is to have membership in a Health Share, but otherwise a catastrophic coverage insurance plan is recommended to be in place.
Does PIOC work with any insurance or Health Share?
No. If a member wishes to submit to their insurance for reimbursement, they may do so for costs not covered by the membership fee (but remember, the goal is to include all primary care in this fee). This may be the case with labs and medications. Health Shares do not reimburse for routine care, but will for any unexpected medical occurrences (based on their policies).
Health Share
Dr. Purcell recommends that you participate in a Health Share rather than insurance, if you have the ability to choose. This is for many reasons; here are a few. The Health Shares meet the requirement for the Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”) and spare the family/individual the tax fine imposed for lack of coverage. In addition, care outside of our DPC can be negotiated directly to the “self-pay” cost – which is usually MASSIVELY less than the cost charged for those with insurance plans. And this protects you/your family should an unfortunate medical event occur that cannot be handled within our practice.
What are Health Share plans?
Health Care Sharing Ministry Exemptions (obamacarefacts.com)
10 best healthshare plans in 2021 | Healthsharing Reviews
The Affordable Care Act imposes a number of requirements for a health care sharing ministry to be recognized under federal law. There are at least nine large ministries that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) has recognized as meeting these requirements. These include Altrua HealthShare, Christian Healthcare Ministries, Christian Mutual Med-Aid, Liberty HealthShare, Medi-Share (Christian Care Ministry), OneShare Health, Samaritan Ministries, Solidarity HealthShare and United Refuah HealthShare.
Here are link to the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (ahcsm.org) which works with 7 of the 9 HCSMs that have large, nationwide and open membership and who have been certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as meeting the federal definition of Health Care Sharing Ministries in the Affordable Care Act.
Others may not. Please look and learn for yourself.